Christ and Culture Revisited
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 64, No. 2 – Spring 2022
Editor: David S. Dockery
By Mark R. Lindsay. Downers Grove: IVP, 2020, xii+236pp., $30.00
Mark R. Lindsay, who has wrestled with the doctrine of election for years, sheds light on the topic by examining both Scripture and the work of theologians throughout Christian history. His effort highlights the historical context of the doctrine by focusing primarily on the “understanding of the being of God rather than the destinies of people” (p. 7).
Beginning with the biblical concept of election in the first chapter, Lindsay emphasizes God’s relationship with his people when it comes to the connotative terms “to choose,” “knowing,” and “calling” (p. 16). These terms portray a God who not only initiates relationship with people but vitalizes the dynamic inclusivity of the relationship (p. 17). The first passage highlighting this characteristic of God is found in Genesis 12:1–9, which is amplified in other biblical passages such as Genesis 32, Deuteronomy 7, Romans 9, and Ephesians 1:3–14. God acts freely in election without regard for any merit in man as he embraces peoples and nations. This, says Lindsay, is a pattern of God’s working for “an expansive inclusivity that extends even to the most unlikely and alien” (p. 35).
From chapter two to the end of the book, Lindsay develops the understanding of the doctrine of election chronologically from the Church Fathers through the Middle Ages and Reformation period, and on to the neo-orthodox thinkers of the twentieth century, focusing on key theologians of each era.
Lindsay presents four key Fathers in relation to the doctrine of election: Ignatius of Antioch, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, and Augustine of Hippo (pp. 51–71). One noteworthy feature during this period lies in the way election is grounded in the nature of the church as the visible substance of the elect community (pp. 39–45). For example, Augustine believed the church to be a mixed community in which the “twofold possibility of election and condemnation” coexist because of the grace of God, not because of God’s lack of foreknowledge (p. 69).
Contrary to the ecclesiological orientation of the doctrine found in the Fathers, Lindsay observes that two medieval thinkers, Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, articulated the doctrine of election with reference to their imperial context (that is, their political theology; p. 75). Providing an overlapping role between church and state, medieval Christianity gave the perception that “being a ‘good believer’ in one was virtually synonymous with being a ‘good citizen’ in the other” (p. 103).
John Calvin, Lindsey’s representative of the doctrine of election in the Reformation era, is famous for making this doctrine explicit in his Institutes. However, as Francois Wendel mentions, the importance of the doctrine of election for Calvin is with “ecclesial politics and pastoral observations” (p. 108). What is critical in Calvin’s conviction about this doctrine, says Lindsay, is that “the eternal decision of God remains rightly veiled from our minds, a veiling that leaves us free to rejoice in our election and so, in our lives, to follow Christ in peaceful assurance” (p. 115).
After the Enlightenment, Friedrich Schleiermacher and Karl Barth appear on the stage with their own interpretations of the doctrine. It seems appropriate to say the doctrine of election was reevaluated in Schleiermacher. His appeal to the singularity of God’s decree asserts, “It is not to be conceded that there is a divided revelation of divine attributes… Instead, justice and mercy must not be exclusive of each other” (p. 150). As for Karl Barth, it is well-known that he accepts Christology as the fountainhead of the knowledge of the electing God. Lindsay points to 1936 as the beginning of Barth’s thought on the concept of christological election, when he heard a lecture on “Election and Faith” by French pastor Pierre Maury (p. 167). Barth identifies Christ as the subject of election, which indicates election is intrinsic to God’s being and a “part of the very doctrine of God itself” (p. 171).
Lindsay surveys the doctrine of election by visiting key theologians in their own historical context. By doing so, he helps readers approach the doctrine of election through the lens of history. I gladly recommend this book to those who desire with humble minds to participate in the mysterious but glorious work of God.
